The Muskegon Lumberjacks’ chance of qualifying for the USHL Clark Cup playoffs is hanging by a thread following Saturday night’s 8-3 road loss to the Green Bay Gamblers.

The Jacks remain seven points behind Cedar Rapids in the race for the sixth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Muskegon only has four games remaining in the regular season and can earn a maximum of eight points in the standings.

That means one more Lumberjacks loss, or one more Cedar Rapids victory, would keep the Jacks out of the league playoffs for the first time since 2016.

Lumberjacks forward Niko Rexine, who scored in Saturday’s loss.

Muskegon will host last-place Madison for a pair of games next Friday and Saturday, then will close the regular season with two home games against Chicago on April 21-22.

Green Bay gained an early advantage on Saturday, collecting first-period goals from Raimonds Vilolins, Nicholas Vantasell and Carter Rose to take a 3-0 lead into the second.

The Gamblers went up 5-0 early in the middle period following goals by Amine Hajibi and Bodie Nobes.

The Lumberjacks fought back with three straight second period goals from Niko Rexine, Sacha Boisvert and Cody Croal and trailed 5-3 headed into the third.

The Gamblers iced the victory with three more goals in the final period, including two from Nobes and one by Hajibi.